1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agitator and pump assembly for mixing and pumping slurry from holding ponds or lagoons in which animal manure is collected.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The inventor has obtained U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,006, issued June 10, 1986, relating to a pump for mixing and pumping manure ponds. Such ponds are a combination of liquid and layers of hand-caked dried solids. As described in the above-mentioned patent, a combination of a vertical screw pump and an impeller is proposed to handle the material. The screw pump provides a vertical component to the flow of the liquid and solids to break up the caked layers, and the impeller acts as a pump to evacuate the liquid and solids in suspension through a drainage pipe directed outboard the pond. The impeller can also be used to direct the liquid through a jet nozzle having a horizontal component for the purpose of breaking up the caked layers and causing the solids to be mixed and suspended in the liquid.
The device of the above patent is mounted on a frame which is meant to be set up vertically in the pond. Given that such ponds are of varied depths and that it is not always possible, in the case of a shallow pond, to place the frame with the associated screw pump in a vertical attitude, the practical benefits of such an apparatus may be limited, in a portable version.